Customer Reviews

The Radiant Seas (Saga of the Skolian Empire)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Building on her three previous Skolian empire books, Asaro has produced a new story that is epic in scope, yet maintains a firm grasp on the human realities and dilemmas of her characters. The story has three threads--the life of the exiled lovers, Soz and Jaibriol, heirs to two empires that are irrevocable enemies, and what is going on in their respective homelands. With intricate plotting, the threads eventually converge for a dynamite, deeply satisfying conclusion, while at the same time making it clear that there must be another book to take the stories forward to full resolution. A week after finishing The Radiant Seas, I find myself still thinking about the story and characters.

I can't agree with the reader below. I just finished reading the 4 books also, and found them to be a wonderful mixture of adventure and science, with a little romance thrown in. I'd say don't buy them if you like your SF to be an emotionless mix of techno-babble. But if you like original ideas, a non-stop plot, and real humans who think and feel and love, these books are for you.

The scene in which Soz returns from exile to wreck her revenge on the Trader empire HAS to be made into a movie. Half throwback to the Ruby empresses, half cyborg war machine; Soz is totally human and (hard to believe) a strong woman that loves men! Love doesn't conquer all; Soz conquers all in the name of love! Believable science: we are all familiar with particle beams; only Asaro tells how they are created. Everyone has FLT, Asaro uses her own theory (as published in a journal of physics) to bend space. Psi WITH an organic explanation! Oh, and space battles with microsecond timing and lots of explosions. Romance that doesn't make you barf and hard SF that works. If there is a New Renaissance coming, it follows on Asaro's heels.

I have read so far (in that order) QUANTUM ROSE, THE LAST HAWK, ASCENDANT SUN, and now THE RADIANT SEAS. Of these, I will say unhesitatingly that the last book has caught my attention the most, even though it has been roundly criticized by some people for a complicated plot and for various other things.

Why do I recommend this book despite its flaws? Because of the love story of Sauscony and Jaibriol (and I wish there had been more of it!), and because of the attempt, however flawed, to combine various narratives into one grand overarching story of a family and couple's story set against grand interstellar intrigue and warfare.

For those who come new to this series, the Skolians are descendants of people moved mysteriously off Earth at some earlier period, but moved across time and space. They come from different parts of Earth, and the resultant civilization they develop (their captors disappear, leaving them behind) draws from different Earth civilizations but is technologically far more advanced. At some point, this space civilization splits into two civilizations - the Skolians who depend on telepathy and empathy to control an interstellar and interplanetary form of communcation called the Web, and the Eubian Concord, led by the Aristos (short for Aristocrats) who use telepaths and empaths rather sadistically. These two civilizations are at war, with the Aristo aim being to destroy the leaders of the Skolians - a hereditary family, led by the Ruby Pharaoh. In this context, Earth discovers space travel and forms the Allied Worlds, only to discover that there are these two contending human civilizations before them.

THE RADIANT SEAS is thus a story not only of a couple who are in love and who are trying to build a life together against tremendous odds, or of a ruling family trying to survive (in which each member has different traumas to overcome, and the expectations of their people to fulfill), but also a story of high politics - a tripolar (three-power) conflict in which each civilization believes that only one can emerge victorious. Most of the conflict, and it is bitter conflict, is between the Aristos (called the Traders) and the Skolians.

The story is told in bits and parts, shifting from the personal experiences of the hero and heroine (and their relatives), to high politics - and showing where personal wishes interact with and sometimes conflict with high politics. If you enjoy reading this kind of a saga, you will enjoy THE RADIANT SEAS.

If you find a fractured narrative, focusing on many many characters, hard to follow, you will definitely not like this novel. The list of characters at the start focuses on only some of the characters, and not all the important secondary characters at that.

Some warnings should be issued however:

1) There is a considerable age difference between the hero and heroine (and the opposite of what we see in QUANTUM ROSE). I find this typical of Asaro, and perhaps unavoidable given the longevity of her major characters. Some readers, especially the more conventional kind, may find this uncomfortable.

2) Some of the technological (or SF) terms used are not well-explained. I would have loved to see a glossary of these terms such as IR at the back, for those of us not familiar with hard science. As someone with little science background, I found the photograph of the Klein bottle useful, even though I could not quite understand how an entire fleet could fit into one. An explanation similar to that offered at the end of THE QUANTUM ROSE would be useful.

3) There are many many secondary characters in this book, of whom only a fraction are listed in the list of characters. Some people might find this book hard to follow not just because of this, but because they pop up in unexpected places (and yes, there are references to characters appearing in the other books). By the way, if you want to understand who is related to whom, you would be well advised to take a look at the back of QUANTUM ROSE which outlines the main imperial line.

4) And yes, there is a lot of description of sex and torture on the part of the Aristos, although I personally found the sex more dominant in THE LAST HAWK, ASCENDANT SUN, and even THE QUANTUM ROSE. I don't feel...that the sex descriptions was necessarily gratuitous, although I could have wished to have seen less of it. I found it interesting that Asaro chose to describe what the Aristos did sexually to a slave Cirrus, rather than to one of the major characters, Althor. The torture scenes, as far as Althor was concerned, were important, even if unpleasant reading. Without that, we as readers would have little idea of what happens to a Rhon who falls into Aristo hands. Fortunately for my squeamish self, Asaro does not include details of what happened to other Rhons who are similarly unfortunate.

I think that this novel would appeal most to those who are able to follow the kind of story written by Leo Tolstoy (the War and Peace comparison is irresistible, in terms of the scope of the novel and the numerous characters with their own stories). It would not appeal to those who are used to the more typical Asaro plotline which focuses strongly on one hero (or heroine) and his or her life experiences.

Despite all its flaws, and there are many, I give this book a four (although it actually rates at a 4.5). For one, it kept me up and reading until 3 am (something that really means something). For another, it made me determined to acquire the rest of Asaro's books, which is a second plus. For a third, I simply like this kind of narrative strategy.

I love Catherine Asaro's range--she can do everything from narrowly focused, character-based stories to a vast, complicated epic like The Radiant Seas, where she expertly weaves multiple story lines together, without losing track of the individuals involved. All this plus good science (though admittedly some of it is over my liberal arts head.) I'm thoroughly hooked on the Skolian Empire and look forward to the next entry in Asaro's series.

I have liked Asaro's combination of hard SF with a touch of romance. She doesn't let me down in her here. The tension and contrast of the two societies, sort of mirror images of one another, is well done. She also realizes the difficulty of politcal compromises and the problems involved. I can't wait for her next novel!

The Radiant Seas is the fourth installment in the Saga of the Skolian Empire and it takes off right with a bang where Primary Inversion left off.
Soz and Jaibriol II are on Prism-the planet they live on in exile from both of their respective, warring Empires. The novel breaks its time focusing on Jaibriol and Soz on Prism, Ur Qox-Jaibriol's father-the Emporer of Eube, and Soz's family on Skolia.
Soz and Jaibriol get to know each other, forge a relationship, build a house and start a family on Prism-which is what they eventually name the planet of their exile. They have both escaped their familial duties and never ending war by faking their deaths at the end of Primary Inversion. Their first born son-Jaibriol III (Jai) is followed by RocaLisa, Vitar and Kelric. They live an idyllic empathic-centered family filled with love, tenderness and support. Jai is about 16 when things change drastically over night. He has always realized that one day he will have to leave Prism, but he naively thinks he will find some wonderful woman, marry her and bring her back to live with his empathic family in total bliss. Sadly, as his mother is pregnant for the 5th time, his father is suddenly stolen by Eube who has managed to locate his father-now the Eubian Emporer-on Prism. Jai and his surviving siblings are taken to Earth where they are fostered by Seth Rockworth-the ex-husband of the Ruby Pharaoh, Dehya. As his father-Jaibriol II-assumes the Eubian throne as Emporer-under duress. His mother-Soz- returns to Skolia and assumes the role of Imperator left vacant by the death of her brother Kurj-who also killed Ur Qox-and the capture of her brother Althor by the Skolians.
As Jaibriol and Soz are setting up house-keeping on Prism, Kurj is taking stock and evaluating his life. He begins to see and express-in a very limited way-how his pursuit of the Eubians at all costs, as well as his early childhood trauma-involving the death of his "father" and the abuse of his mother at the hands of his step-father as well as the revelation that his beloved grandfather was actually his genetic father- have served to shape him into a less than ideal person. He marries his true love, fathers a child on her, apologizes to his mother and then is capptured by the Eubian Emporer Qox. Kurj manages to kill himself and destroy his ship with the Eubian Emporer on it.
Prior to Kurj's death, Althor-Soz's brother not Tina's husband from Catch The Lightening-finds some disturbing evidence that his sister Soz and Jaibriol II may not have died after all. He confronts his father and the truth of his sister's escape into exile with her Eubian husband is confirmed. Athor mourns for his sister and agrees to honor his father by keeping their secret. Then Althor is captured by the Eubians-they torture him for information which causes his brain to begin to erase all of the information it holds. It is harrowing to follow Althors decline, he eventually does not even know who he is-but before he slips that far he does give the information about Jaibriol II in exile on Prism.
Meanwhile, Soz returns to Skolia, assumes her role as Imperator and is on a mission to rescue her husband, pick up her kids and return her family to the relative safety of their self-imposed exile on Prism. Soz has to hide the identity of her children and husband from her family-difficult to do in a family of empaths. Soz is ultimately who I enjoyed the most about this book. Her single-minded pursuit of her husband against staggering odds-all while not being able to share her turmoil with a single soul in her family-not even her own mother. I never doubted for one instant that Soz would rescue Jaibriol.
This novel is fast-paced and enjoyable from begining to end. It is my favorite of the novels so far and is only passed or equaled by Moon Shadow's-the story of Jaibriol III's assumption of the Eubian Throne.

Of course someone with degrees in Chemical Physics is going to focus a good deal on the science in her fiction but sometimes the details can be distracting to those of us who don't have such degrees or a great love of heavy science. But Asaro's societies are still complex and well represented. There are actually three space-age societies: Skolian, Eubian, and Earth Allied. Only two of these, Skolian and Eubian, are dealt with in any great detail and they are almost polar opposites. Almost because both are really oliogarchies. Here the battle is between two races of "improved" humans -- one telepathic and one with almost no ability to feel at all. Allied Earth is somewhere in between and in fact, I get the feeling that Earth may be the big problem that hasn't reared its ugly head yet in the series.

Action, responsibility, family, romance, and more. I read all kinds of SF and I loved this book. Who cares if its hard SF or if the science is real, after 10 minutes I was hooked. It is more a story about duty and obligation vs doing what is right, and by whose standards. The main characters have to make choices and I was totally engaged in their thinking process. I read Asaro's Catch the Lightning first, it is the weakest of the Skolian series but I was interested enough to read The Radiant Seas which is the most thrilling. I recommend that you start with it and then go back to Primary Inversion which is more insightful. The Last Hawk was just okay, however, I anxiously await Asaro's next entry which I hope will pull all the family together. Asaro is a nice break from some of the more plodding, linguistic challenges "serious" SF writers sometimes feel the need to present.

I would have thought this series would get better by book 3, but it just got worse.

Imagine two inbred (literally inbred), moronic societies at war with each other for 400 years. Using idiotic technology, ignoring obvious avenues left and right, impossible from the logical, technological, and social perspective. They have a type of AI but no Von Neumann machines. A "psyberspace" (yes, it is exactly what it sounds like, and even more dumb than you think) but no understanding of computers or technology. Nanites but no nanite warfare. Extremely pathetic cyber technology. Hell, the main problem of the two civilizations could have been solved with either modern genetic engineering, or something that will be available within 50 years.

I mean, couldn't the author have picked up Neuromancer before writing this book? Or at least watched Star Trek? The entire society described here makes absolutely no sense - an advanced technological society is impossible in a full slave system! Not to mention that this whole war could have been ended in a week with a set of weapons based on 1980's MIRV designs.